1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel cyclic olefin compound having a photoreactive group, and a novel photoreactive polymer and, more particularly, to a novel cyclic olefin compound having a photoreactive group and a photoreactive polymer prepared from the same that are applicable to various photoreactions, such as of liquid crystal alignment films, and can also be preferably used as precursors of different organic compounds or polymers.
2. Background Art
Recently, a variety of photoreactive compounds or polymers have been used in a wide range of optical applications, such as thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), photoresist, and so forth.
TFT-LCDs, for example, have an alignment film underlying a liquid crystal film so as to use liquid crystals as optical switches. Recently, photoreactive polymers or the like are included in the alignment film to employ UV-based photo-alignment.
The term “photo-alignment” as used herein refers to a mechanism that the functional groups (photoreactors) of a defined photoreactive polymer causes photoreactions by a linearly polarized UV exposure, during which the polymer main chain is aligned in a defined direction, bringing about liquid crystal alignment.
For more effective photo-alignment to occur, the photoreactive polymer contained in the alignment film is required to cause good interactions with the molecules in the liquid crystal film and furthermore to possess a good photoreactivity.
With a gradual increase in the usage of photoreactive compounds or polymers in a wider variety of applications, there is a demand for various photoreactive compounds or polymers that have a high photoreactivity to more different types of light (e.g., omnidirectional polarized UV, UV of different wavelengths, etc.).
However, most of the existing photoreactive polymers do not have a good photoreactivity or cause enough interactions with liquid crystal molecules. Moreover, the development of photoreactive polymers with a good photoreactivity to various types of lights remains to be desired.